ICT Investments and Technical Efficiency in Italian Manufacturing Firms: The Productivity Paradox Revisited

From the Seventies the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been a much debated question. A lot of studies are made in order to understand if the ICTs are able to increase economic growth, firm productivity and firm efficiency. In this study both the translog and the Cobb-Douglas production function are used in order to estimate the impact of information and communication technology on technical efficiency (TE) in the Italian manufacturing firms over the period 1995-2003. Results show that ICT investments positively and significantly affect firm technical efficiency. Moreover, group, size and geographical position are able to influence positively TE. Finally, results show that older firms are in average more efficient than younger ones.ICT investment, Productivity Paradox, Stochastic Frontier, Italian manufacturing firms

The Demand for Theatre. A Microeconomic Approach to the Italian Case

This paper examines theatre participation in Italy over the period 1995–2006. Explanatory variables are determined by identifying their contributions to both the individual’s decision to attend, and the frequency of attendance. Socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics, cultural capital, participation in other cultural activities, ticket price and theatre supply are taken into account. Three different models are used: the logistic regression model, the ordered logistic regression model and the finite mixture model. In the first two cases the contribution of each variable is not so different, in the case of finite mixture model the significance of the variables is not the same in the two components. For instance, the variable education, a proxy for cultural capital, is always significant in determining participation, but not in frequency of participation. In general, our results show that participation is not specific to a particular theatrical event since people who attend one arts activity are more likely to attend others. Finally, our results show that traditional socio-economic variables such as income and education are highly correlated with participation in the arts.Demand, Arts participation, Theatre, Italy.

Rule of law and the Environmental Kuznets Curve: evidence for carbon emissions

In response to recently growing literature investigating the relationship between environment and institutions, this study investigates how rule of law influences the level of income at the turning point of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Using an alternative specification of EKC that avoids nonlinear transformation of potentially nonstationary regressors, investigated by Bradford et al. (2005) and Leitao (2010), we find the evidence for the EKC in European countries for carbon emissions. Our results find a negative relationship between pollution and rule of law, demonstrating that when rule of law is strong, the turning point of the EKC occurs at a lower level of income per capita, thus, decreasing emissions. In terms of policy implication, our study suggests that institutional reinforcement should deserve close attention in designing and enforcing policies that limit environmental degradation.Environmental Kuznets Curve, Rule of law, Panel data, Turning point

Environment and economic growth: is the rule of law the go-between? The case of high-income countries

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Being efficient to stay strong in a weak economy. The case of calabrian manufacturing firms

The aim of this work is to study the efficiency of firms operating in Calabria, a small and economically-lagging Italian region. The analysis is carried out by estimating a stochastic production frontier for an unbalanced panel of manufacturing firms which are observed over the 1998-2006 period. Results show that the efficiency score is, on average, about 60%. A declining trend is observed over the last three-year period, 2004-2006. Moreover, firm efficiency increases with firm age and when firms export. Inconclusive evidence is found for the role of investments in ICT and R&D. This is not very surprising given that private effort in technological activities is extremely low in Calabria (private R&D intensity was less than 0.075% of regional GDP in 2010)

Being efficient to stay strong in a weak economy. The case of calabrian manufacturing firms

The aim of this work is to study the efficiency of firms operating in Calabria, a small and economically-lagging Italian region. The analysis is carried out by estimating a stochastic production frontier for an unbalanced panel of manufacturing firms which are observed over the 1998-2006 period. Results show that the efficiency score is, on average, about 60%. A declining trend is observed over the last three-year period, 2004-2006. Moreover, firm efficiency increases with firm age and when firms export. Inconclusive evidence is found for the role of investments in ICT and R&D. This is not very surprising given that private effort in technological activities is extremely low in Calabria (private R&D intensity was less than 0.075% of regional GDP in 2010)

ICTs and lags in technical efficiency gains. A stochastic frontier approach over a panel of Italian manufacturing firms

This paper analyses the relationship between investment in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Technical Efficiency (TE). It uses a panel dataset of Italian manufacturing firms during the period 1995-2003. In contrast to much of the existing literature which focuses on the impact of ICT on labour or multifactor productivity, the paper analyses the relationship between ICT and TE using a stochastic frontier approach. Results show that ICT investment is positively associated with productivity and efficiency, but that the elasticities are lower than those associated with non-ICT capital and labour. Moreover, ICT investments have a positive effect on firm TE, and the impact of ICTs reduces firm inefficiency with a strong time lag since their adoption. Finally, the paper makes a methodological contribution by showing that a Cobb-Douglas production frontier is rejected in favour of a translog one

ICTs and time-span in technical efficiency gains. A stochastic frontier approach over a panel of Italian manufacturing firms

This paper, in contrast to much of the existing literature, which focuses on the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on labour productivity, assesses the relationship between ICTs investments and Technical Efficiency (TE) using a stochastic frontier approach. We use a large panel dataset of Italian manufacturing firms over the period 1995-2006 and confirm prior findings of the existing literature on ICT and productivity. In addition, we test on which extend the ICT investments influence the distance of the firm from the production frontier; that is, how ICT’s adoption influences the closing of the firm efficiency gap. We also test how long the effects of ICT investments on technical efficiency last. We find that ICT returns on TE are influenced by some firm’s characteristics, most of them idiosyncratic, such as management practices, labour organization, research and development

The evolution of theatre attendance in Italy: patrons and companies

This paper examines the Italian theatre market from both the demand and supply side. The descriptive analysis shows that the Italian theatre market is, mainly, localized in the Northern and Central Italian regions for both patrons and companies, confirming a cultural divide between the Southern and the rest of the Italian regions also in the theatrical sector. Like many other European countries, the performing arts in Italy are subsided by public funds through the so-called Fondo Unico per lo Spettacolo (FUS), thereby influencing theatre performance and attendance. As expected, the distribution of the FUS follows the localization of the theatrical companies. The empirical analysis is conducted using 34-year panel data (1980-2013) for the 20 Italian regions. By applying the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) estimation technique, we identify the factors influencing theatre demand and supply. The estimated results confirm as determinants of theatre demand, price and consumer income and additionally, cultural capital (proxied by education), substitute goods (such as cinema) and other contextual factors (such as tourists flows and territorial area). In contrast, theatre supply is influenced by income, previous historical attendance, theatrical employment, and other contextual factors linked to territorial and public subsidies